


View from the afternoon.

by Kaesteranya



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-13
Updated: 2010-06-13
Packaged: 2017-10-18 23:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/194580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaesteranya/pseuds/Kaesteranya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watching <s>him</s> the game <s>with him</s>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	View from the afternoon.

They go and watch Musashino Daichi’s game against Urawasougo together – or more like, Kazu and Junta go together and Rio ambles along behind them, close enough to keep them from asking questions and far enough to preserve his own peace of mind. Rio’s familiar with this sort of setup, and just a few months back, he hadn’t though much of it.

  
They find a nice set of benches near the back of the stadium, where the wind’s perfect and they’re tucked neatly away under the partial roof of the place, safe from the oppressive heat of the sun. Kazu and Junta sit together, of course. Rio selects the bench right behind them, of course. He tells himself that he likes his space and there’s no point in crowding when there’s more than enough area to stretch out. Besides, sitting with Kazu and Junta the way they used to sit back in middle school is a little like turning invisible against one’s will these days.

  
“That’s the one, right? Check out the scoreboard.”

  
He almost misses the fact that Junta’s talking to him now – his upperclassman is almost always talking to no one else but Kazu these days, even when the three of them are together. Rio does not know why he notices this more often. He’s still not sure whether they’ve always acted like that and he’s just noticed now or if they’ve only done it recently and he just happens to be old enough to understand what it might mean and not really like it too much.

  
“Hey, Rio, can you read those letters?”

  
“…Come on, Jun-san. You think I’m a complete moron, don’t you?”

  
“But you are a moron.”

  
So Rio narrows his eyes, pretends to be irritated and indulges Junta, half-knowing that it’s not going to get him very far but doing it anyway because he’s half-hopeful too, in some sense (read: that Junta will notice and approve and maybe indulge him a little more too). He knows he’s being meaner than usual, snarkier than usual, but of course, Junta does not notice and Kazu takes it all in stride. Kazu’s been taking a lot in stride lately – it must be because this will be his last year with the team, and his last tournament as Junta’s catcher.

  
Rio is happy about this, and he does not realize it or come to terms with his reasons why until later. He was an average teenage boy with average teenage considerations until just a few months back, until he started thinking about and wanting some not-so-average teenage things.

  
“Look, they’ve taken the lead…”

  
“…end for Musashino.”

  
“…teams are seeded so it can’t be very soon.”

  
They’re talking over his head again, and he catches snippets of their conversation. He’s supposed to be asleep, but it’s a little too warm (blame it on Kazu – the guy’s too damned big and blocking the wind from reaching him) and his uniform’s a little too stiff and Junta’s right there and his voice just goes through him, sharp and loud even though Junta’s tone is far from harsh. It might be because Junta’s voice sounds nice – he always sounds nice. There are a lot of things about him that are nice.

  
There’s a shift in tone. Junta takes a little too long to reply to a joke Kazu’s made about Haruna Motoki and Junta and pitching, and Kazu laughs. Rio’s almost tempted to get up and cut in with something smart, but he can’t think of anything suitable and the moment’s lost.

  
“Rio, Haruna’s on the mound!”

  
And he’s up sometime later. They have their three-way (two-way, plus one) conversation again about neutral topics, and when it turns into a Kazu-Junta show, Rio isn’t surprised at all.

  
I wish you’d stop with the married-couple comedy act. It’s grossing me out.

  
He mutters it in spite of himself, but they don’t hear him at all, and they don’t stop, and he shuts his eyes because it’s the easier thing to do. Later on, when they’re leaving the stadium, Kazu offers him a ride back to school. Rio waves him off and takes the bus there instead.  



End file.
